The family of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Thursday announced a separate candle-lighting ceremony to mark the month-long remembrance of the opposition supremo who died last year.

Raila Amolo Odinga Memorial National Steering Committee said Raila's widow, Ida Odinga, will lead supporters and Kenyans in lighting candles next Thursday at Kang’o ka Jaramogi in Bondo, where Raila was buried next to his father, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga.

The committee is chaired by Prof Adams Oloo.

“The official international candle lighting will be led by H.E Mama Ida Odinga from 6pm East Africa time at his resting place, Kang’o ka Jaramogi, in Bondo,” the committee said in a statement.

“We warmly invite everyone and all institutions across the world to join this official candle lighting session. Wherever you may be, at home, in your place of worship or in any corner of the world, light the candle in his memory at that hour so that one light may shine in a million places at once.”

The committee also acknowledged the planned Friday candle lighting vigil organised by the ODM Party across the country. Raila founded and led the party for two decades.

“We welcome this kind gesture of remembrance and the committee gives its blessings to the planned event,” Oloo said.

ODM has designated October as “Mwezi wa Baba” and lined up a series of activities across the country, beginning with Friday’s candle-lighting exercise and a major memorial rally in Kakamega on October 9.

ODM’s programme will begin on Friday with a nationwide candle-lighting exercise, but the party has planned several other activities in different regions in the weeks that follow.

On October 9, the party will hold a major memorial rally in Kakamega, bringing together supporters from Kakamega, Vihiga, Busia, Bungoma and Trans Nzoia.

Family-led activities will then run from October 10 to 15 before the Bondo memorial.

The programme will resume after the Bondo event, with ODM scheduled to hold activities in Garissa on October 17, followed by events in the Coast region on October 18 and 19.

The party will then move to Kajiado on October 21 and Turkana from October 23 to 25.

The Oloo-led committee warned against any raising of funds during the month-long celebrations of Raila’s first anniversary.

“Everyone is welcome to celebrate Jakom in the best way they can, provided that no funds are raised in the name of the family or the National Steering Committee,” Oloo cautioned.

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The caution is meant to deter any misuse of the well-intended season of remembrance for personal gain.

ODM has asked supporters and Kenyans to light candles wherever they are, with organised events planned in various parts of the country.

In Nairobi, supporters will gather at Uhuru Park, while other designated venues include Treasury Square in Mombasa and Kisumu Central Square.

The two initiatives highlight the separate roles being played by the family and ODM in organising activities to mark one year since Raila's death.

The Steering committee has been coordinating a programme intended to give Kenyans an opportunity to remember Raila outside the formal political structures of ODM.

The family also indicated that many Kenyans did not get an opportunity to mourn Raila or bid him farewell in the manner they would have wished following his death in October 2025.

Raila died on October 15, 2025, while receiving treatment in India. He was 80 years old.